What stops India from becoming a super-power?

 

I-N-D-I-A. India is our country. This is where we were born, where we grew to be what we are today and this is where we are all going to die. With a population of more than a billion, you and I are a small part of this big family. With our strong billion people population, we have a booming economy, excellent education and limitless ambition– and we have all the reasons to be ready to take over the world. But is it? Yes, our economy is US$1.676 trillion. Yes, we are the third largest when it comes to Purchasing Power Parity. Yes, India has tripled its defense expenditure over the last decade to become one of the top-ten military spenders. And maybe yes to some more of them. So are we on our way of becoming a superpower? All you optimists would assert an affirmation but it is time for a reality check. India is surely marching ahead with all this growth and development but are all the Indians doing the same or is it just a small fraction of the population who are marching ahead? Sadly, the answer to this also is a YES. There is no uniformity to the growth. In simple terms, the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. According to World Bank, India contains the largest concentration of people living below the International poverty line of US$1.25 per day. Half of the children in India are underweight and 46% of our children under the age of three suffer from malnutrition. Do you still think we could be the next superpower? Yes? Did you say yes? Don’t get all emotional with this. We have time to come to a conclusion.

You must remember the riots in Siliguri by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters or the Gujjar riots that erupted in Rajasthan. People rampaged on the roads, burnt buses, blocked national highways among other things. Total chaos reigned. Certainly not the makings of a superpower. Before I proceed with this I would like to make it clear that I am not anti-India or a desh-drohi as some may feel. I love India more than anyone but not the concept that India will be a superpower. Anyway, we all know the concept of soft power, right? It is hegemony over another nation without the use of military. This is what USA has been doing around the world. We Indians wear shirts and jeans, we feel proud speaking in English and we want to be like an angrez. Teenagers can’t speak hindi, our mother language or at least they want to show this. Our culture is going down the drain and literally so. Amid all this there is this one thing that we wish for, India becoming a superpower. If you just want to wish for this to happen without doing anything wait until Christmas and ask Santa. Maybe he will gift it to you.

Talking about Santa, I just remembered that Bejan Daruwala, one of the oldest and India’s most famous astrologer, somewhere said that India would become the superpower in 2009. Mr. Daruwala, we crossed 2009 and we are almost in the middle of 2012! Are we the superpower? I don’t think so. Maybe one of the few times his prediction failed. Or maybe he would have been bang-on with this and people like A. Raja and Suresh Kalmadi, our esteemed desi scamsters intentionally ruined his prediction. But let’s not get into all this. This article is not to pinpoint the problems and issues faced by us. Accept it, we all know the issues. We all want our country to be the superpower but what is more important is that we get our basics right. It’s not about being the best, it’s about giving a good life to the billions from our family who don’t even get two meals and sometimes even one meal a day. It is difficult, no doubt, but it’s not impossible. This may sound repetitive but impossible itself means I-Am-Possible. People say that forget whatever has happened till now. Forget the past and think about the future. I say remember the past. Remember the scams, remember the naxalites, and remember the mass-killings and the riots. It will keep us grounded. It will keep us striving for something better. We might never become a super-power but we will surely become a better nation. And that’s what counts. Isn’t it?